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Do you believe there is only one god, your god? Yes
If your answer is yes, just assume, if you were born and raised in another part of the world, where you were taught by your parents from your childhood that no god exists or some other god instead is the almighty power, wouldn't you believe in that god or no god at all? Yes
Then if so, why does one believe in any particular deity at all? Just because one happened to be born into a certain religious culture and was made to believe certain ways? I think that pretty much covers it. We obviously learn our facts about religion, at least initially, from those who raise us. I was technically born to a Catholic family but my parents were not hard core Catholics. We only went to church for weddings, funerals or when my aunt (a Catholic nun) came to visit. When I met my wife, she brought me to a Lutheran service at her church. I found that their thoughts and believes matched the ones I had developed once I started giving religion thought independent of how I was raised. I now have a son and plan to raise him as a Lutheran. Should he choose to go his own route when he becomes an adult, that will be his choice.
The most drastic change I ever saw was a friend about ten years ago. He was a drinking, pot smoking, fighting rebel who was removed from his home for kicking the crap out of his dad. He was also atheist. One day, a mutual friend who is a born-again Christian had him read a bible passage. It made him, as he put it, get a very strange feeling inside, then he sat down and cried. From that point on, he was a born-again Christian and gave up the pot, drinking and fighting. He preached to all of his friends and encouraged others to attend his church.
I guess it comes down to everyones personal perception of what we can't see. Can anyone here say for sure that any god truly exists and provide proof? No. Can anyone deny that things have happened in this world which have never been explained? Yes. While I believe in only my God, I have no right or reason to deny that there could be another God out there. I just go with what I believe and leave the rest of the religious world to their own beliefs.
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A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day. Calvin
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